How to anticipate your opponents groundstrokes

I hit a FH crosscourt deep to his FH corner. Back in the day, most of the time these balls are hit back crosscourt. Nowadays they hit balls screaming down the line at will. Are there any clues I should be looking for to anticipate that shot? If so what are they? (Please assume the player is hitting from an open stance.)

Your court positioning could give you clues as to where a person might hit. If you watch your ball too much, and are step behiind in recovery because of it, you could pay the consequences.

The other thing to watch is how hard you hit a ball. You could have a powerful forehand, but if you have slow footwork and watch your ball too much while forgetting to recover for a moment, that brief moment and your big forehand could work against you by not allowing you enough time to get back into position.

Learning to recover immediately after you hit the ball is very important and part of the entire stroke that not many players talk about in this faster game of tennis. Recovery helps improve your chances of anticipating the ball by allowing your senses to be free to pick up clues. It also allows you a better chance to get to a ball should you guess wrong.

I was told to watch how the ball travels into my opponents striking zone and then focus on the contact, trying to actually see it. This way you will notice the angle of his racquet and its path, if not you will be focused on the ball right from the start of its path towards your court half. Split step or a little hop(if out of position) helps prepare the body for movement, I learned to push off at the time as the other guy starts his forward swing, but to each his own, there are other cues to split.

Addendum to Perfmode: After you make contact with the ball, shift your focus to your opponent and use peripheral vision to see the ball. As you opponent hits, switch you focus back to the ball.

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Wow, Cypo impressive. Like it a lot. Good use of the senses. After you hit the ball, you have an element of focus and peripheral going on. When players move into the 5.0 range, these areas: use of vision, emotional control, and mental strength are what seperates the pack.